Domains and indicators of resilient children in natural disasters: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Resilience has received increased attention among both practitioners and scholars in recent years. Child resilience has received notable attention in disaster risk reduction (DRR) during the creation of the Sendai Framework 2015–2030 to improve child protection in the event of disasters. As resilience is a subjective concept with a variety of definitions, this study evaluates its different factors and determinates in the existing research to clarify the path for the near future and objective research. A systematic literature review was conducted by searching and selecting the peer-reviewed papers published in four main international electronic databases including PubMed, SCOPUS, WEB OF SCIENCE, and PsycINFO to answer the research question: “What are the criteria, factors or indicators for child resilience in the context of a natural disaster?” The process was based on PRISMA guidelines. In total, 28 papers out of 1838 were selected and evaluated using thematic analysis. The results are shown in two separate tables: one descriptive and the other analytical. Two main themes and five subthemes for criteria for child resilience in a disaster have been found. The factors found cover the following areas: mental health, spiritual health, physical, social behavior, and ecological, and as well as environmental. The majority of the included studies mentioned the scattered criteria about children resilience without any organized category. Although this concept is multifactorial, additional research is needed to develop this study and also observe other kinds of disasters such as human-made disasters.

How is COVID-19 pandemic impacting mental health of children and adolescents?

“…Adolescents may feel frustrated with events and encounters that they have not experienced or at least postponed. Problems such as worsening school performance, increased agitation, aggression, and regression may arise or become more pronounced [ 5 ].…”

The Association between Child and Parent Psychiatric Disorders in Families Exposed to Flood and/or Dioxin

“…Almost all of the parents were Caucasian and they were a median of 36 years of age at the time of the disaster (range, 20-69). About half of the parents in the study had graduated high school; parents had a median of 12 years of education (range, [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. Most of the parents were currently married.…”

“…The mental health effects of major disasters have long been a topic of major clinical and research interest, prompting the accumulation of much literature on this topic, in both adult and child survivors. Children, considered particularly vulnerable to psychosocial consequences, have been the subject of a number of recent reports [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Few rigorous studies have examined mental health consequences of disaster on children and parents within family units, and even fewer have assessed fathers as well as mothers [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ].…”

Resilience: Theoretical Framework and Implications for School

“…School is like an arena in which all students try to play and perform their best academically and socially (Cefai, 2007). According to Khorasani-Zavareh et al (2018), the school setting can be "a safe base" for the empowerment of Resilience. In other words, it can surely provide students with acceptance and security despite the adversities that pupils may confront outside the school.…”